Bachelor Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: A, University of Groningen (Faculty of Economics and Business), course: International Business & Management, language: English, abstract: Although various researchers have called attention to inter-firm relations and their effect on innovation, relatively few studies so far have examined the topic from an integrative point of view. While some research has been done on individual variables chosen by the researchers beforehand for a certain firm in a specific industry and setting, there has been a small amount of research towards a much more universal approach. The here presented study therefore aims at gaining comprehensive insight into the fundamentals of the previously described approach. In particular the objective of this study is to analyse how the characteristics of inter-firm relations influence creativity and innovation. This is done by contextualizing the factors used in previous literature and analysing their impact on innovation as well as the implementation processes.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: A, University of Groningen (Faculty of Economics and Business), course: International Business & Management, language: English, abstract: Although various researchers have called attention to inter-firm relations and their effect on innovation, relatively few studies so far have examined the topic from an integrative point of view. While some research has been done on individual variables chosen by the researchers beforehand for a certain firm in a specific industry and setting, there has been a small amount of research towards a much more universal approach. The here presented study therefore aims at gaining comprehensive insight into the fundamentals of the previously described approach. In particular the objective of this study is to analyse how the characteristics of inter-firm relations influence creativity and innovation. This is done by contextualizing the factors used in previous literature and analysing their impact on innovation as well as the implementation processes.

This volume features excellent new research devoted to advancing our understanding of how networks foster creativity, innovation and the development of cutting-edge technologies. This is crucial reading for any researchers exploring strategic management tools and techniques, and specifically the intricacies of "network theory" within businesses.

Challenging the current flood of mergers and acquisitions this book presents an alternative, more efficient strategy of inter-firm alliances. In the context of recent developments in international business, the discussion takes in alliances between buyers and suppliers, between competitors and between firms in different industries. This theory is illustrated and elaborated with empirical detail from a variety of international case-studies. These studies include the car industry in the US, Europe and Japan, the Dutch photocopier industry and ten European electronic suppliers ... Inter-firm Alliances combines resource-based views, transaction-cost analysis and institutional economics to develop an original and comprehensive theory of inter-firm alliances and a coherent method for managing them.

This book offers a distinctive analysis of the relations and interplay between the internal activities of firms, their changing boundaries, and increasing reliance on networks and alliances with other firms. The contributors offer a blend of theoretical and empirical studies; they are based on a set of related perspectives in modern economics, including transaction cost economics, competence and resource-based theories of the firm, evolutionary economics and the theories of foreign direct investments and the multinational enterprise. The unifying concern shared by the different studies is the need to model firm behaviour and inter firm cooperative activities in terms of knowledge growth and competence building rather than merely in terms of cost-reduction; they emphasize learning processes and dynamic efficiency rather than efficient allocation of given resources.

The second essay explores the relationship between universities' involvement on a firm's innovation outcomes. We used two different data sets to examine experimental tests. We found that universities' involvement positively affects a firm's innovation performance. Additionally, this relationship is moderated by a firm's absorptive capacity.